Zian's breathing was ragged. The golden fragments from her angelic double still shimmered faintly around her chest, absorbed like dying starlight. She didn't move. Her hands trembled.
Kaen stood beside her, unusually quiet, watching her closely—not with concern, but with expectation.
Suddenly, the forest pulsed again, and the shadows twisted.
This time, the Gate turned to its next prey.
A shriek echoed through the blood-mist trees, and Leon Raskov staggered back as the ground beneath him split open. From it emerged a spectral figure wearing a military captain's uniform—bloodied, one eye missing.
"Leon…" the specter hissed, dragging a limp leg. "You left us to die."
Leon's expression cracked for the first time. "No… That's not—"
"You ran," it continued. "Abandoned your squad. Left the minefield. You knew the cost. And you still ran."
Zian looked over. "What's it talking about?"
Kaen's arms were crossed now, gaze fixed forward. "It's his uncle. Captain Grigor. Died in the Eurasian Front Raid… because Leon broke formation."
Leon let out a roar and launched himself at the figure, fists glowing with reinforced mana. Each punch passed through the specter like smoke. The figure only laughed.
Zian tried to stand. "We need to help him—"
"No," Kaen interrupted. "This is his trial. Either he shatters… or survives."
---
On the opposite end of the clearing, Mira Valen faced her own torment. A woman stood in front of her—elegant, cold, dressed in a high-end business suit. Her mother.
"Disappointment," the woman whispered. "You gave up the family name to chase power. And for what? To live among commoners?"
Mira gritted her teeth. Her grip on her twin daggers trembled. "I'd rather fight monsters than become one like you."
"You already are."
A blade of pure shadow rose from the blood-mist behind the image of her mother. Mira screamed and lunged—
—and cut through nothing.
---
In the center, Kaen stood as the gate quieted briefly. Zian had risen, shakily, and now stood beside him once more.
"This gate isn't testing strength," she murmured. "It's testing… guilt."
Kaen tilted his head. "Not just guilt. Purpose. Whether your soul still holds one."
He turned, facing the shifting forest ahead.
"It knows who belongs to the darkness. And who's just pretending."